President Guy Parmelin said high-level talks with the European Union must resume, after the vice-president of the European Commission for Inter-institutional Relations, Maroš Šefčovič, suggested that outstanding Swiss contributions to the Cohesio...

The cantons of Bern and Jura have signed a road map on the politically delicate issue of how the town of Moutier will move from canton Bern to neighbouring canton Jura. The aim is for the switch to take place by 2026 at the latest, the two cantons s...

The Swiss parliament has backed greater commitment to protecting the external borders of Europe’s Schengen zone. On Wednesday it passed a government decision to increase Switzerland’s contribution to the EU’s European Border and Coast Guard Ag...

The Swiss government is facing increasing pressure to maintain free tests against Covid-19. A parliamentary health committee on Wednesday demanded the government review its plans to make people pay for asymptomatic tests. It said free tests were a ...

The Swiss parliament has agreed new advertising and sponsorship regulations for tobacco products. However, the supporters of a total ban on tobacco advertising are unimpressed. The long-running debate was heated until the end, with the political lef...

An alliance of non-governmental groups has called for improved access to education for refugees in Switzerland. The groups said they had collected more than 17,000 signatures for a non-binding petition, demanding a right to education regardless of t...

Guy Parmelin, who holds the rotating Swiss presidency this year, has called for solidarity to tackle global environmental and trade issues. Addressing the United Nations general assembly in New York, Parmelin said the Covid pandemic had entrenched p...

The rates of new Covid infections and hospital admissions have fallen in Switzerland over the past week. But the overall situation remains tense, and the vaccination rate is still too slow, say health officials. “The situation has continued to cal...

Swiss businesses are rubbing their hands over the planned opening of United States borders to fully vaccinated Europeans, having been shut out for 18 months. Tour operators are already receiving the first bookings. “We’re pleased that holidays i...

Five years after voters roundly rejected the idea, campaigners have again launched a people’s initiative aimed at introducing an unconditional basic income for all in Switzerland. This time they say they have clarified how it will be financed. The...

The Swiss parliament has agreed to reform the national organ donation system, moving from explicit to presumed consent. The issue is due to go to a nationwide vote at a later date. On Monday, the Senate followed an earlier vote by the House of Repre...

On World Alzheimer’s Day Swiss organisations have called for better framework conditions for the prevention, research and treatment of Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. They also expressed alarm at the ever-growing number of cases. About ...

German prosecutors have closed the illegal donations case involving the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party co-leader Alice Weidel, it has been reported. Germany had asked Switzerland for legal assistance concerning the affair. According t...

Switzerland could “do more” to prevent violence against young children, a top Swiss official admitted to a United Nations panel of experts reviewing the country's child rights record. Switzerland ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the C...

The number of gamblers banned from Swiss casinos rose sharply last year to over 10,000, driven by the growth in online gambling sites, the Swiss newspaper NZZ am Sonntag has reported. At the end of last year, a total of 72,322 people were banned fro...

Students at several universities in Switzerland have staged protests against the mandatory use of Covid certificates to attend courses. On Monday, demonstrators in the cities of Zurich, Lucerne, Bern and St Gallen called for free access to educatio...

Some 72% of non-vaccinated people in Switzerland are holding out due to fears about mRNA technology, while 31% are “fundamentally” against the Covid-19 vaccination, according to a survey. The representative survey by research group Sotomo, repor...

Several thousand people gathered in Winterthur (northern Switzerland) on Saturday in opposition to the current measures to tackle the spread of the coronavirus. Several groups backed the demonstration, including the so-called “Freiheitstrychler”...

Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis on Saturday inaugurated an 11,000 square metre fresco by Franco-Swiss artist Saype at the United Nations in New York. The artwork, “World in Progress II”, symbolises the desire to strengthen international so...

Thousands marched in Bern on Saturday against a proposed reforms of the Swiss old-age pension scheme, notably the plan to raise the retirement age for women from 64 to 65. The demonstration, which was authorised by Bern authorities, was attended by ...

After more details of a blackmail case involving Interior Minister Alain Berset were revealed in the press this week, a special prosecutor is to investigate whether official documents were leaked. On Thursday, Weltwoche magazine published new detail...

A former Swiss government official has been sentenced to four years and four months in prison in connection with one of the biggest corruption scandals to have hit the public sector in Switzerland. The former head of department at the State Secretar...

The government plans to present a new revision of the CO2 law before the end of the year which is unlikely to contain any new taxes to fight climate change. In June, 51% of voters rejected an earlier revised CO2 law. On Friday the Federal Council (e...

The government says it is seeking to implement transitional measures to make up for European research funding shortfalls that have arisen after relations soured with the European Union. Researchers in Swiss institutions have been facing uncertainty ...

People who catch Covid-19 should get vaccinated three months after recovering and not six months, says the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH). This new recommendation has been made due to the spread of the more contagious Delta variant, explaine...

Police used a water cannon, rubber bullets and irritant spray to break up an illegal demonstration against coronavirus measures that turned violent in the Swiss capital Bern on Thursday night. “After several warnings from police, participants push...

The Swiss medicines regulator is reviewing requests from vaccine producers Pfizer/Biontech and Moderna to use their product for third booster jabs. Swissmedic said on Thursday that both vaccine makers had submitted their proposals and supporting dat...

The World Economic Forum (WEF) has announced it will resume its flagship annual meeting in its traditional Davos venue in 2022. The meeting of the world’s most powerful politicians, business figures and representatives of civil society, culture an...

Video streaming platforms, such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney+, may in future be obliged to donate 4% of their profits towards supporting the Swiss film industry. On Thursday, both chambers of the Swiss parliament agreed on the amount to be su...

Two of the most successful Swiss company listings of recent times have taken place in the space of a week, raising hundreds of millions of dollars from stock market investors in New York. Sports shoe manufacturer On Group, which is backed by Swiss t...